Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, said today in Caux that a lot of the world’s environmental degradation would never have happened if governments had listened to the world’s indigenous peoples. He was speaking the day before the United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous People, at the Initiatives of Change conference centre.

A leading British Imam today condemned acts of terrorism as evil, declaring that ‘no noble goals can be met by evil means’.

Holding high a fist full of tobacco in an outstretched arm towards the sun, before casting it into a small wood fire, Lewis Cardinal from Edmonton, Alberta, formally opened a global indigenous dialogue (GID) at the Initiatives of Change centre in Caux, Switzerland, this evening.

More than four hundred participants filled the Caux Initiatives of Change conference centre for a week at the end of July for a session on the theme of ‘Openness and trust between generations’.

Bringing together people of different cultures, nations and backgrounds is a centrepiece of all the activities in Caux. The 'Grassroots dialogue of civilizations' conference that has just closed aimed to help participants to move beyond the spirit of confrontation and to advance a dialogue that bridges differences.

Mohamed Sahnoun, President of Initiatives of Change-International, in his closing speech at the conference 'Trust and Integrity in the Global economy', in Caux Switzerland, today called for efforts to tackle the root causes of conflict.

Trust and Integrity in the Global Economy is the theme of the second summer conference in Caux this year. With 241 participants from 52 countries it focuses on the challenges of an increasingly globalized economy – and the needs of humanity.

Ambassador Pierre Combernous, representing the Swiss Federal Government, addressing 'Official Day' audience

Ambassador Pierre Combernous, representing the Swiss Federal Government saluted the ‘special relationship’ between Switzerland and Initiatives of Change stretching back 60 years, at the Caux conference centre’s Official Day yesterday. He passed on greetings from the Swiss government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mgr Joseph Roduit, the Abbot of Saint-Maurice, spoke this afternoon in Caux on the role of ‘value-based communities in the 21st Century’ and the need to ‘globalize solidarity’.

The international conferences in Caux started today with the first session entitled 'Servant community – values, responsibility and leadership'. The Caux website has been enhanced with a special section on the current conferences.